Christmas Traditions: New Pajamas

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Joe Boxer available at Kmart. 

I'm a sucker for all sorts of festive clothing. Monograms on everything, personalized shirts for the boys at each holiday and themed clothing for vacations; I love it all. Christmas is one of the best times to squish everyone you love into coordinating clothing. My favorite? Pajamas. We we started a tradition 2 years ago, that includes everyone getting a new pair of pajamas on Christmas eve. We all put them on to watch Christmas movies, then all have decent, hole-less clothing on for Christmas morning. 

Last year was our first good pajama shot of the whole family and it's framed in our house. Makes me smile every time I pass by it.

I love the festiveness the new jams bring to the Christmas pictures. 

I think I've bought every style for each of us, from the old man button ups, to the basic cotton sets. I think my favorite style, though, is the tight leg bottoms. It just looks adorable on those little baby booties and I'm so excited that they are in for women this year! 

Joe Boxer has a large assortment of styles this holiday season, for men, women and kids. Their holiday line, available at Kmart, comes wrapped up cute, perfect for putting right under the tree. 

My favorite, the Sweet Dreams set, has already been unwrapped and worn by the Christmas tree with my favorite snowman mug full of coffee. I love that the set is 3 pieces, with candy cane stripe shorts for the not-so-cold North Carolina nights. They will be worn plenty between now and Christmas! 


Kmart doesn't stop with just cute PJ's. They have really cute commercials for them, too! Check these out. I LOVE the preggo dancers! 

Do you have a pajama tradition with your family? 

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Joe Boxer available at Kmart. 

Easy Holiday Entertaining (and a yummy Christmas cocktail recipe!)

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. 
All opinions are mine alone. #HolidayMadeSimple #CollectiveBias 

I'm a bit of a "go all out-er" when it comes to parties and holidays. I love entertaining and I love to go theme crazy. I also really love when I can do all of those things very easily, with easy recipes and a small amount of clean up. Yesterday, I got exactly what I wanted. 

We had some friends over and I wanted to make it Christmas-y without too much work. I created a colorful winter wonderland in our dining room in about an hour. A simple snack menu included a snowman cheese ball, toffee fudge, a hot cocoa bar for the kids and a yummy "blue Christmas" cocktail for the grown ups. 

The cocktail was pretty delicious, if I do say so myself. I crushed up Wonka®  Sweetarts®  candy canes and mixed it with sugar. After dipping the glasses in some simple syrup, I rolled them around in the candy cane mix for a festive look. 

The drink itself is 1 part vodka, 1 part sour mix, 1 part blue curacao and 2 parts pineapple juice. I think they looked so cute and festive with the bright candy canes!

I had 3 types of cocoa for the kids, 2 types of marshmallows and some whipped cream. Although, I did catch Cooper shooting whipped cream into his mouth, straight from the container.

My friend asked if I made the fudge and was shocked when I said yes and how easy it was! I used the Nestle®  Carnation Famous Fudge Kit for my very first attempt at fudge making and it was SO easy. It's a box that has everything you need to easily make fudge, then I made it my own by mixing in 3/4 cup of toffee chips, right before I spread it in the pan. I used another 1/4 cup of the chips to press on the top. After chilling a couple hours, I sliced it and put it out. All 1.5lbs was gone in the day. Seriously so good. I think I'm going to make more in little packages for friends and teachers this year! 

Snowman cheeseball needed some mini chocolate chip eyes, but no one seemed to mind. 

I used some more of the candy canes to decorate and was glad I snapped a pic before the kids ate them all! 

A couple of my sweet friends. The boys were too busy watching football to get in on the cocktail pictures. 

Pretty much everything I used for the party can be found at Walmart. From the delicious fudge kit and candy canes, right down to the cute little containers and stir sticks. Talk about #HolidayMadeSimple. PS, the fudge is right in with the baking mixes, so when you're in there trying to decide what to bring to your next party, grab a box. You won't be sorry! 

Nestle is giving away $1,600 in gift baskets! Use the widget below to enter! 
Nestlé Holiday Sweepstakes

LeapFrog App Toys (The perfect Christmas gift!)

It's no secret that LeapFrog toys are one of those that everyone loves. Parents are happy that they are educational, while still keeping their children occupied and kids love how much fun they are. With Christmas right around the corner, you're going to want to check into a couple of new releases from LeapFrog! 

Learn to Write with Mr. Pencil Stylus & Writing App

This breakthrough app toy turns your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch into the ultimate learn-to-write tool. With more than 85 interactive activities, your children will write letters, numbers and work on their drawing skills with the citizens of Doodleberg. I am shocked that in a matter of days since using Mr. Pencil, even my 2 year old is tracing letters perfectly. And it's not just for kids that young. My 5 year old is loving all the different activities as well. He has been writing a few of his numbers backwards and this app is really helping! I love that we can bring the iPad and Mr. Pencil to run errands and the boys are entertained and educated at the same time. 

Creativity Camera Protective Case & App

Insert your iPhone or iTouch into the kid friendly "camera" and your child becomes a pro! They can take pictures, edit them with silly faces go on photo missions, create albums and even play exciting games. Don't worry about handing over your phone, either. It's very secure in the camera case and my sneaky boys can't get it opened by themselves! 

Add these great LeapFrog toys to your shopping list for the holidays. You and your kids will be very happy you did! 

I received these products in part of a campaign with LeapFrog and MomSelect. All opinions are my own. My kids really like these toys. They're playing them right now as I type. 

Macy's Heart of Haiti

In a season filled with gift buying, money spending and serious cases of the "gimmes", it's so refreshing to see giving back. Macy's has chosen Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, to support through employment in their fair trade, Heart of Haiti line. 

The program currently employees 780 artisans, who they pay in excess of fair wage, so they are able to make a living, feed their families and send their children to school. Macy's Heart of Haiti upholds the belief that "trade not aid" is a powerful way to create sustainable work and much needed financial opportunities. 

The collection at Macy's features over 40 home decor items including metalwork, quilts, jewelry and paintings, that are made almost entirely out of recycled and sustainable items. If you go to the Macy's site, you can meet the artist who have created some of the beautiful pieces. Some of them had planned to leave the country, now decide to stay to train the next generation, because of this new partnership. 

These stars were sent to me as an inspiration to talk about the stars in my life. I have them hanging on my stair bannister, mixed in with the Christmas cards I've received this year. With all the smiling faces of family and friends who have been stars in my life. My husband, my sweet boys, parents, sisters and brothers are people I can count on. People you won't find a paparazzi picture of in a magazine, but they are stars to me. 

This year, why not give a gift you know will impact much more than it's recipient? Shop Macy's Heart of Haiti line. There is something in the line for every star in your life. Purchasing items from the line is an easy way to contribute to the Haitian community, which after the devastating effects of hurricane Sandy, needs help more than ever.  

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own. #CleverHaiti

Christmas Card Time: A Shutterfly Giveaway

Have you ordered your Christmas Cards yet? Me either! I went into panic mode last week, thinking I was too late. Nope. Not so fast. Shutterfly has a huge selection of cards and there is still time to order from them! 

I am a wee bit picky when it comes to my cards. It must have more than 1 picture spot, have space for our name and I tend to lean towards the black and elegant cards. 

I did find a couple that fell outside of my normal box this year and I'm seriously considering them! Here are some of my faves from Shutterfly's Christmas Card collection. 

Gorgeous, right? We have a family photo shoot to do and it will be ordering time! I will be sure to show you the one we pick!

Be sure to check out Shutterfly's Cyber Monday deal! Visit their Facebook page tomorrow to receive a 25% off unique code! You can also check out their Special Offers page for great deals all the time! 

Are you still in need of Christmas, Hanukkah or another type of Holiday cards? How would you like to win a $50 credit to Shutterfly?! Simply enter using the rafflecopter widget below!

Because there is only a few weeks before Christmas, the winner will be chosen December 2 and the credit must be used by December 14th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you, Shutterfly for sponsoring this post. I received a store credit in exchange for my honest opinion. 

Scents of the Season

It's amazing how certain scents can bring floods of memories. Just the other day in the grocery store, I passed an older lady and instantly my eyes burned with tears. I smelled my Granny, and how much I miss her made my heart ache. Scents are memory filled, be them sad or joyful. The sniff of a candle, the aroma in a home, the smell of the salty ocean. They all flood my mind with memories. 

This time of year, scents are plentiful and are definitely joy filled. They make me giddy for the Holidays and spending time with my family. Some of my favorite scents are a fresh pine, of course. There is nothing like that family trip to pick it out, either!

The scent of apple pie baking just screams holiday, right? I made my first one for our first Thanksgiving by ourselves in California and it came out perfect, if I may say so. 

And what about the smell of a turkey baking? Yum. (Is it Thanksgiving yet?!)

Sugar cookies baking remind me of the first time Cooper "made" Christmas cookies. It was such a proud mom moment! 

And last but not least, one of the most universal scents of the season, is coffee. My favorite way to drink it is in my big Santa mug. With a pile of family family and friends drinking it with me! 

Dunkin Donuts packaged coffee is available at your local grocery store. I love the Flavors of the Season varieties they have, including Mocha Mint, Pumpkin Spice and Gingerbread Cookie. They are all sure to make your home smell festive this holiday!

These specially packaged coffees even have a little gift tag on them, perfect as a hostess gift or stocking stuffer! Stock up and keep some on hand for last minute gifts, too! Your guest will feel the holiday spirit sipping on these delicious flavors this year!   

Thank you to Dunkin’ Donuts® packaged coffee at grocery for being a sponsor. I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective. All opinions expressed here are my own.